A Christmas Romance
by EthanDalton96
Summary: AU where Voldemort never existed. All the Marauders are alive and well. As Christmas approaches, Harry realises that his friendship with Hermione is more than just platonic... Rating may change later.
1. Chapter 1

One morning in mid-December, the castle awoke to find itself buried in several feet of snow. A bitter wind blew around the spires, and an icy chill descended in the drafty corridors. Hagrid could be seen dragging huge spruce trees away from the forbidden forest, towards the castle. Christmas was coming to Hogwarts.

Everywhere you looked, festivities where in full swing. Bunting and tinsel hung across hallways and fireplaces, while a small Christmas tree had appeared in the Gryffindor common room seemingly overnight. Even the teachers were becoming more relaxed. Professor Flitwick had enchanted baubles to float above their heads during lessons, while Professor Slughorn brewed hearty warming concoctions to warm them up in the icy Potions classroom.

But nowhere was more magnificent than the Great Hall. Twelve enormous Christmas trees lined the walls, each with unique decorations: some sporting golden glass baubles, others hundreds of miniature candles. Festoons of mistletoe and holly dangled from every wall. Every feast was a joy to behold: the house elves had out done themselves with exquisite platters of food for the mains and towers of ice cream for dessert.

With just a week to go before the Christmas holidays, the talk of the school was the rapidly approaching "Slug Club" Christmas party. The competition for a date was ferocious. All the girls had somehow compiled a list of which boys where in Professor Slughorn's inner circle, and did their utmost to persuade a boy to go with them. However, this made it difficult to move about the castle with ease.

Every day, Harry had to evade groups of girls, with evenings in the common room disrupted with whispers and giggles of on lookers. More than once he had seen Romilda Vane spying on him in the library.

"How do you do it, mate?" said Ron.

"Do what?"

"How do you go about it every day, and not snap at them to leave you alone?"

"Listen, I've had this attention for the past three years, I can cope with it a few more years." Since becoming Gryffindor Quidditch captain in his fourth year, he had become the hero of his house, leading them to successive titles. And the number of females clamouring for his attentions had only swelled since.

As they took seats at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, Ron asked: "are you going to ask anyone? Pretty sure everyone would say yes, but don't leave it too long." Before Harry could answer, his thoughts were distracted as Hermione sat down opposite them.

"Hi you too. Harry, you do know that Romilda Vane tried to sneak you a love potion again last night?" Harry paused, goblet frozen in his hand. "I'm not saying she's spiked that! Just that you should watch your back more."

"Hey Hermione," Ron asked, "Who are you taking to Slughorn's ball?"

"Oh don't get me started. Cormac McLaggen won't stop following me around. He's vile! But let's not focus on me. Harry, who are you taking?"

"I told you she'd ask!" Ron exclaimed. "He's not saying, but I'm pretty sure he's got someone in mind." But Harry had stopped listening; he'd become distracted by her brown eyes, the curls of her bushy hair, the way she tucked it behind her perfectly rounded ears. "…Harry? You still with us?"

"What?!" Harry was jolted back to reality. "Yeah, sorry just thinking about…Christmas presents for mum and dad."


	2. Chapter 2

Snowflakes gently drifted past the windows, but the fire roaring in the hearth kept the library at a bearable temperature. The majority of students had returned to their common rooms for the evening, but Harry, Hermione and a smattering of other NEWT students remained behind. Harry still hadn't completed his Defence Against the Dark Arts essay for Professor Lupin, due the next day, and he was thankful that Hermione was on hand to offer help. But even though he still had more than half to write, he was, once again, being distracted by Hermione. He couldn't stop staring at her: the look of concentration on her face as she furiously scribbled out an error, the way she ran her hands through her hair in exasperation. How had he never noticed her beauty before? No wonder McLaggen was after her. He knew he had to ask, before someone else did.

"Hermione, can I ask you something?" She nodded absent-mindedly, not looking up from her textbook. He opened his mouth, but he couldn't make a sound. She looked up.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to go to Slughorn's party with me?"

"Yeah, sounds good. So like a double date?"

"No…I mean, do you want to go with ME?"

Hermione paused. "What, as in a date?"

Harry fidgeted uncomfortably, well aware of the stern gaze Hermione now gave him. "Err…yeah." Another pause.

"Yep, ok then," Hermione responded with a smile, before resuming with her work.

Harry was over the moon! He couldn't believe she'd actually said yes! But as they returned to the Gryffindor common room, he noticed that Hermione was surprisingly distant, only giving short responses in their conversations, as if her mind was elsewhere. He'd taken the leap, but had he damaged their friendship?


	3. Chapter 3

The following morning, Harry was determined to make sure that he hadn't offended Hermione. But this proved more difficult than he had anticipated. She wasn't in the Great Hall at breakfast, nor was she in the Gryffindor common room. If Hermione would be anywhere, she would be in the library: however, it turned out to be an uncharacteristically Hermione-free zone. Harry even asked Parvati and Lavender, but they hadn't seen her either.

It wasn't until Quidditch practice that evening until he caught sight of her frizzy brown hair and her glowing beauty. He hadn't seen her all day, yet there she was; sitting up in the stands, reading a book, but clearly still spying on him.

Harry was jerked back to reality by Jimmy Peakes jumping on his back.

"Alright, captain? You still with us?"

"Yeah…ok, let's get started."

After beating Slytherin in the opening game, the whole team was determined to keep improving ahead of the crunch match against Hufflepuff. "Right team, I've been working on some new moves suggested by Katie, so I think it would be a good idea to see if we can get them working in real life. It's our last session before Christmas, but that's not a reason to slack off."

Over the next hour, the team, in Harry's opinion, performed admirably. Katie Bell, Ginny and Demelza Robins linked up well, but Ron still made them work hard to score. At the end of the session, Ginny approached Harry. "So, Harry, how long have you and Hermione been going out?"

Harry stopped dead. "What?"

"Oh come on, you're so obvious when you're around her. And how many people do you know that come to Quidditch practice in December?"

Harry knew that it was no use. "Ok, you've got me. And we're not really going out per say, I asked her to the Slug Club party."

"And?" Ginny asked with bated breath.

"She said yes, but she didn't seem too happy about it, and I haven't been able to talk to her all day."

"Well it looks like she wants to talk now." Turning round, Harry saw Hermione walking towards him.

"Ginny! What should I-" but Ginny had gone. "Err, hi Hermione, enjoy watching?"

"Hey Harry, you really are a great captain! I'm feel really bad that I've avoided you today, it was very brave of you to do what you did. I've been thinking: if we're going to do this, we should try and keep it as normal as possible. We've been friends for years, there's no reason to change anything. Oh, and there's something else: I'm so happy that you asked me, I was plucking up the courage myself to ask you. Now come on, let's go get some dinner."

As they walked back up to the school together, Hermione casually slipped her hand into Harry's.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry couldn't sit still. He paced back and forth with nervous excitement, looking forward to that night's Slug Club Christmas party. The Gryffindor common room was near enough deserted, with only a few fourth years still up, gathered around a game of wizards chess.

A short while later, Hermione descended from the girls' dormitories. She was wearing a full-length, strapless dark red dress, with high-heel shoes of a similar shade on her feet. Her usually bushy hair had been tamed, and now flowed down her back.

"Wow," said Harry, shaking his head in disbelief, "you look amazing."

"Thanks, you don't look too shabby yourself. Shall we go?" Linking arms with him, they stepped out of the portrait hole and made their way down to the third floor. As they reached the third floor, Harry and Hermione could hear music drifting through the corridors. As they rounded the corner, they were overwhelmed with greens, reds and golds. Tinsel and bunting was strung across the hallway, with glittering baubles floating on either side of the entrance, welcoming them in.

"Harry! Mrs. Granger! I thought we'd be seeing you at some point!" Professor Slughorn was dressed in deep purple robes, a large glass of mulled wine in his hand. "Please, come in and make yourself at home!"

The potions master hadn't spared any expense on decorations. Golden candles floated above the heads of the guests, while real live fairies danced and chased one another between the pillars and drapes. And the food. Trifles; apple pies, bramble pies; chocolate eclairs, strawberries and cream, profiteroles and warm chocolate sauce piled high, and crystal glasses of ice cream of every flavour imaginable. Huge flagons of butterbeer, red wines, and pumpkin juice were arranged around gilded goblets.

"Hermione, do can I get you a drink?" Harry asked politely.

"Harry I told you, we're friends, you don't have to be formal with me. Don't be another Viktor Krum."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, you saw him at the Yule Ball three years ago." The two of them helped themselves to drinks, before mingling with the rest of the party guests.

"Hi you too. Harry, can I have a word?" Neville tapped them on the shoulder. "Harry, I think you should avoid McLaggen, he's not happy Hermione's gone with you."

"Who's he brought?" Neville looked around before leaning in closer.

"Eloise Midgen. Safe to say he's not pleased." Harry could see Cormac over by the butterbeer, throwing back pints with abandon. At that moment, Hermione came dashing towards them.

"Neville! You never told us that you were bringing Luna!"

Their fellow Gryffindor blushed. "Well…yeah. I've been keeping it a secret. She's quirky, but pretty darn hot."

A few hours later, Harry was sat with Cedric Diggory, discussing the upcoming Quidditch World Cup.

"Frankly, I don't think there's a better chance for England to win," argued Cedric, "their three chasers are so in form at the moment, I don't think there's many better teams out there.

"Yes, but Japan and USA went unbeaten is qualifying. And you can never rule out the Brazilians."

"Mr. Potter." Snape was stood behind Harry's chair, appearing almost as if he had apparated on the spot, a look of distaste on his face. "I hate to interrupt what I'm sure is a delightful conversation, but I think you should take Mrs. Granger back to her dormitory." Looking over, Harry could see Hermione, shoes off, laboriously dancing on a table, hair askew, and a glass of mulled wine in her hand.

"But Harry! I'm having fun!" Hermione protested as he pulled her away. "Don't be a spoil sport!"

"How much have you had to drink? And where are your shoes?"

She opened her mouth, but before she could answer, she collapsed into his arms.

"Come on, up you get," Harry said as he pulled her upwards and picked her up in his arms.

Outside the Gryffindor common room, Hermione dropped out of his arms, stumbled, and then pushed him against the wall.

"Hermione?! What are-?"

She put a hand up to his lips. "Shush now. There's no-one here. We don't have to hold back." Hermione held his face in his hands. After a pause, she moved close to him, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him on the lips. Harry's hands moved down Hermione's sides to support her, while he parted his lips to allow her tongue to explore inside. Her hands grabbed hold of his own and moved them down to her bottom. But just as Harry started to ease into the intimacy, Hermione pulled away. She gave him one last, teasing look, before turning round and stepping through the portrait hole; leaving him stood there, elated and stunned.


	5. Chapter 5

When Hermione woke the next morning, the only thing she was aware of was the huge headache that ailed her. She slowly sat up and pulled back the curtains of her four-poster bed; however, she had to immediately shut her eyes, as the morning light was to her, blinding. Very slowly, she groggily made her way across the deserted dormitory to the bathroom, where she poured herself a goblet of water and gazed at her reflection in the mirror above the wash basin.

She looked terrible. Her dishevelled hair had begun to turn bushy once again, her make-up had smudged her face, and her beautiful dress was creased and hanging off her. Striping down, she found a shower, let the cold water wash over her and put her head in her hands.

Why had she kissed Harry? She had tried so hard to keep her emotions in check all year, but an overindulgence of alcohol and she had permanently changed their relationship. Hermione knew Harry liked her; why else would he have asked her to the party? But had she come on too strong with her behaviour the previous evening?

Suddenly, a voice called to her softly. "Hermione? Are you there?" It was Ginny. "I know what's wrong. You're upset about last night."

"Did Harry tell you?" asked Hermione, suddenly angry.

"No, he hasn't said anything, but it's not hard to guess what happened. Can I come in and talk to you about it?"

Hermione pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around her. Ginny came and sat down next to her. Hermione told the whole story, starting with the proposition in the library, ending with the kiss outside the common room. "It was all a stupid mistake!" Hermione finished, now close to tears. "I really like Harry, but now I've ruined everything!"

"Hey, don't talk like that. You're still hanging a bit from last night, you need to let your head clear. You haven't ruined anything. There's nothing wrong with being affectionate. I guarantee that Harry still fancies you as much as he did before, if not more so. You're just nervous. Go with what you think is right. I promise you everything will work out." She smiled, leaned over and embraced Hermione in a tight hug. "Come on, let's get you dressed, then I'll help you pack, we need to catch the Hogwarts Express later."

"Could you pass me a towel now? Oh, and Ginny," Hermione continued as Ginny stood up, "you didn't see anything did you?"

"What do you mean?"

Hermione gestured to herself, blushing slightly. "I don't exactly like being seen naked."

Ginny smiled, holding out a towel. "Don't worry, you look hot. I'll wait outside till you get dressed."

Hermione gratefully accepted the towel and blushed even more. She picked out a pair of jeans and a shirt that she knew would get Harry's attention and topped it off with a tight fitting parka. With Ginny's help, they packed Hermione's trunk and carried it down to the common room which was deserted but for Harry and Ron.

"Hi you two," said Ron, "ready to go?" They all walked down to the entrance hall together, dragging their trunks behind them. They talked amicably all the way down, but Hermione couldn't help noticing that Harry couldn't keep his eyes off her. Ginny caught her eye, and winked.


End file.
